What am I missing on doing a cutout?

[djarboe]

I am trying to design a board with three straight sides, and a spline along the bottom. For the life of me, I cannot figure out how to make this a cut path. I currently am just using a through cut, but this provides no tabs to hold the interior part in place. I am perplexed and stumped. Can someone quide me?

I am attaching an image file of the desired result, and my project file. Granted, the spline in not exactly the same for both, but they are just done freehand anyway, and I can smooth thing out with my sander.

This is just beating me. Please help!

Dave

[mtylerfl]

Just make sure you have all the lines connected...it's that simple. Once you have that as a continuous line, click on the Cut Path Tool, set your tabs, etc
(You CANNOT join mirrored copies...each side must be an independent vector so that you can connect the two sides to each other)

MAJOR EDIT:
Had my coffee...I was right the first time...no joining of mirrored vectors. Create two open shapes (one for each side, then join them)...or, see next post...

[mtylerfl]

I owe you a solution. This may be the easiest/fastest...

1) Un-mirror your original

2) Move the original so the nodes on the open end are exactly at the vertical center guide (use Snap to Grid to make this easy)

3) Draw a vertical line between the two open-end nodes to make a closed shape of that entire vector

4) Make it a Carve region and NOW make it a mirrored copy (manually or Cntrl+Shift+H

5) Now, select both the original and the mirrored copy and click on the Outline Tool.

You can now delete your original and mirrored copy because you should now have a single continuous vector to apply the Cut Path Tool

[djarboe]

Thanks, I will give that a try and let you know the result.

Dave

I owe you a solution. This may be the easiest/fastest...

1) Un-mirror your original

2) Move the original so the nodes on the open end are exactly at the vertical center guide (use Snap to Grid to make this easy)

3) Draw a vertical line between the two open-end nodes to make a closed shape of that entire vector

4) Make it a Carve region and NOW make it a mirrored copy (manually or Cntrl+Shift+H

5) Now, select both the original and the mirrored copy and click on the Outline Tool.

You can now delete your original and mirrored copy because you should now have a single continuous vector to apply the Cut Path Tool

[djarboe]

Well, that worked like a charm. Thanks!!!
Now, why would it not do it my (wrong) way. Perhaps I didn't have all the endpoints truly connected?
Anyway, I will keep your instructions handy, since I'm sure I will want to do something like this again.

Dave

[bergerud]

Using the outline method gives a poor quality curve which is difficult to edit. Mirror, as you now know, does not create an independent half that can be connected. What I do is draw half the curve and then copy, paste, and reflect it to get the other half. Connect the two halves and then I have a single, symmetric curve.

Warning: Not all curves reflect! Constraints and tangent arcs seem to defy the reflection operation.


Edit: I added an mpc. See the two halves you can now connect.

[djarboe]

I'm not entirely sure I understand what you are saying... but I am getting old. I got your original suggestion to work beautifully, and will use it. Thanks again for all your help! It's too bad I can't talk with you on the phone to hopefully clarify everything.
Dave

Using the outline method gives a poor quality curve which is difficult to edit. Mirror, as you now know, does not create an independent half that can be connected. What I do is draw half the curve and then copy, paste, and reflect it to get the other half. Connect the two halves and then I have a single, symmetric curve.

Warning: Not all curves reflect! Constraints and tangent arcs seem to defy the reflection operation.


Edit: I added an mpc. See the two halves you can now connect.

[mtylerfl]

Hi Dave,

Glad that worked for you. I think Dan was referring to "flip" when he said "reflect". He's right...sometimes that works and sometimes not. The method I listed should always work, but with the caveat that the outline may not be as "clean" as the original drawn vectors, as Dan pointed out.

I hope we are both making sense to you. If not, just ask and we'll be glad to help clarify.

[Digitalwoodshop]

Another way of doing stuff like this is to make shapes as shallow regions and overlap them then select all and outline them. Save just the outside and make it a cut path.

[mtylerfl]

Another way of doing stuff like this is to make shapes as shallow regions and overlap them then select all and outline them. Save just the outside and make it a cut path.

Yes. That's the method in Post #3 above.